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Franz Forrawyn
"Witchcraft claims the unwary or the incomplete. A true man may flinch away its embrace, if he is stalwart, and he girds his soul with the armour of contempt. The nature of witchcraft is deceit - unless one looks past surface impressions, one can never hope to divine the purpose of the enemy." -Franz Forrawyn History Franz Forrawyn was born over two centuries ago, before the great mage war turned the north into a frozen hell. He saw the horrors of the war from the front lines, witnessing the devastation of the land. After the war, he rallied an army of like-minded warriors, the Hexenjägers, dedicated to hunting down and eradicating all mages in the north. He befriended the mercenary captain Aengrist, who would go on to martyr himself and join the ranks of the divine. Forrawyn would honor him, praying to him alongside his own patron deity, the elven goddess Vandria Gilmadrith. The truth, of course, was murkier than that. Forrawyn and Aengrist were both appalled by the devastation that had befallen the north, but took very different paths. Aengrist, a knight himself, rallied fellow knights to his banner. There, they swore an oath and founded the Knights of the Iron Glacier, and trained initiated in to be a chivalrous as they were survivalist. This is the sort of story Franz Forrawyn would like to claim. The first Hexenjägers were a rabble of marauding killers and bandits who had seized magitech they scarcely understood. Calling themselves the Winter Techno-Barbarians, they patterned themselves of the tales of Enver Arslan and his post-apocalyptic Aglazderian warriors. Forrawyn encountered these marauders and slew their warlord in single combat, taking command for himself. He intended to mold these scum for his solemn purpose, even if he had to keep order with appalling violence. Forrawyn told them that the true enemies of man were witches, and that from now on forward, those would be the target of their ire. He elevated their purpose, and even taught them Elvish, hoping to inculcate virtue into his men. But old habits died hard, and Forrawyn's Army - as they became known - carried out their new master's will with appalling cruelty. They tortured and killed any mage they could get their hands on, and their families too, even on the most scurrilous rumors. The blood eagle emerged here, used so liberally that the warriors went so far as to make it their grisly flag. Franz Forrawyn did not forbid them this morbid act, for so long as it sowed terror in the hearts of mages, it could only be good. Under his tutelage, training, and leadership, the newly branded Hexenjägers - as Forrawyn insisted they call themselves - became so feared that nearby refugees and displaced folk turned to them for protection. Thus was the Reich founded. The fact that Aengrist and his proud Knights of the Iron Glaciers scorned the bloodthirsty Hexenjägers did not deter Franz Forrawyn in the slightest. When Aengrist was slain in battle and the Knights dispersed on their crusade to protect the vastness of the Frostfell, there remained no great lawgiver to whom the people could seek protection. Only the charismatic warlord Slava Vasilev and his Warforged general, Rurik Tarrenforge - the eventual founders of Nadezhda - commanded the same authority, and as always, the wastes of Jotunheim remained beyond any man's grip. At some point during the aftermath of the Northern Mage Wars, Franz Forrawyn acquired an ancient Otataral blade from the First Empire, which he named Hexentod. He also wielded an elven short sword for a period of time, until it broke in the Winter War. During his time on the island, he set up an operation to harvest Otataral dust, which formed the basis for the compound in the Hexenjäger respirators. As Fuhrer of the Reich Nördlich, Franz Forrawyn had a warlike relationship with his neighbors, Jotunheim and Nadezhda. With Jotunheim, it is a matter of fending off the Frost Giants and their raids, but against Nadezhda, their conflict comes from Forrawyn’s loathing of their policy of enslaving mages. He saw his fears confirmed when Abi Eodauga overthrew Marshal Rurik and give his mages free reign. Though he did ally with Marshal Eodauga during the war against the Windwalker, he still hates him and seeks to bring him down. In particular, he hates Abi Eodauga for befriending his wife Walpurga and teaching her to nurture and hide her sorcerous powers, leading to her death by his hand. At some point shortly after the Winter War, Lord Frazon Coldshoulder, an one-time ally, would present him with an enchanted shield named "Cold Shoulder" after himself, to replace his broken short sword. In gratitude for the Arendurian's courageous wartime service, the Fuhrer would bear the shield in the wars to come. He also wears the Winter Star, a ring once worn by King Ardeo of Aedrigord. The ring passed down to his daughter Walpurga, who gave it to him when they married. Franz Forrawyn was shortly married a human woman named Walpurga who birthed him a daughter named Reise. He does not ever speak of Reise’s mother, though he appears to be grooming the girl as his heir. He pursues an alliance with Queen Mercy of Guilddon, but shuns most other nations, believing their rulers to be mages, fools, and worse. Personality Franz Forrawyn’s psyche and outlook was formed by the disastrous Northern Mage Wars, which he fought in. He lost many loved ones during that time, and saw his home destroyed. Forrawyn was believed to have had a human wife that he never truly forgot. Those close to him believe that he sees echoes of his slain wife in Queen Mercy of Guilddon. In addition to believing that magic is a destructive and all-consuming force, he believes that it warps the minds of its practitioners, who he sees as trying to play god. He is horrified by the Nadezhdan practice to enslaving mages, seeing it as a powder keg waiting to explode. The overthrow of Marshal Rurik and the rise of Abi Eodauga are merely his worst fears come true. Franz Forrawyn knows that his people suffer, but he does not see himself as a king in any traditional sense. Rather, he sees himself primarily as the Commander of the Hexenjägers; as a bulwark against the menace of sorcery. In this sense, he considers himself his people’s protector, not their overlord, and therefore absolves himself of responsibility for their well-being. War of the Philosopher-Kings "There will come a time when you must achieve a goal at all costs. It may come in attack or in defense. And the only way will be to allow the sword to be sheathed in your own body. ... when the price is worth the gain, and there is no other choice left to you." -Franz Forrawyn Franz Forrawyn made a marriage pact with Queen Mercy of Guilddon, in which their nations would unify to destroy the northern alliance. The two would eagerly align themselves with World's End, with the understanding that their goal would be the overthrow of Abi Eodauga and peace in the north. Upon the initiation of hostilities, Forrawyn would lead a contingent of soldiers and Hexenjägers to harry the Nadezhdan flanks and supply lines. Upon the full invasion of Nadezhda, Forrawyn and his men would lead the advance, being the most comfortable with winter warfare and with dealing with the enemy mages. During the final battle at Torzhestvo, Franz Forrawyn and his Hexenjägers would cut a bloody path through Nadezhda's slave mages, and Forrawyn would claim Eodauga's life in a climatic duel. He would go on to take the master collar, and use it to kill every Nadezhdan mage. Franz Forrawyn would take charge of the northern forces following Atlantis' attack of Guilddon, and declare his intentions to bring down the northern Final Empire and end the reign of Twin-Emperor Brennen. Emperor Arthur would retreat to defend World's End from the Atlantean forces, and the troops from Guilddon, led by Guildmaster Orval Royce, would mutiny, forcing Forrawyn's men to crush their rebellion. The troops from the Reich, having taken incalculable losses, would make their way to Xiclotl, where they would find themselves against insurmountable odds. Throwing caution to the wind, Forrawyn would leave the majority of his troops in reserve, and under cover of a blizzard, lead his Hexenjägers in a suicidal attack on the dome. They would cut a swath through everything in their path, confronting Emperor Brennen, who would call their bluff, and immolate himself upon the throne, killing Franz Forrawyn and the remaining Hexenjägers in one stroke. In this, each leader would have claimed a partial victory. Emperor Brennen would save the throne from destruction, preserved his research, and annihilated the world's most lethal mage-killing order. In his death, Franz Forrawyn would secure the goal he had never achieved in life - a peaceful, unified north, free of mages, and ruled by his daughter. In this, his legacy would be cemented. After the War The spirits of Franz Forrawyn and his Hexenjägers would be trapped in the Nightmare of Brennen, an in-between realm between the waking world and the Dream of the Old Ones, eternally laying siege to a dream replica of the Northern Dome. Category:Monarchs Category:Reich Nördlich Category:Elves Category:Characters Category:Snowball Earth Category:Dead Category:Hexenjäger Category:Commander of the Hexenjägers Category:Blademaster